Alone Down There
by katsurai
Summary: Sayuri, a young Draenei woman, will have to rediscover her path in life after recovering from an attack by the Syndicate.
1. Chapter 1

"Where exactly are we going?" Sayuri asked curiously, throwing a sideways glance at Raeden. He seemed preoccupied with something in the distance though and wouldn't answer. She gave a small sigh and she too focused her attention on the long stretch of path before them. She shifted her bag to her right to give her left shoulder a break. They had been walking for almost four hours with no stops in between. She was already exhausted but Raeden seemed to be unfazed by the distance and was simply determined to get to Southshore.

"Need me to carry your bag, Sayuri?" he asked- eying her as she switched the bag back to her right shoulder due to her left being rather weak.

"No," Sayuri said embarrassed. "I got it. You have your own stuff to carry."

"I know, but if you're having trouble you should let me carry them," he suggested. He watched her struggle a bit under the bags' weight before taking matters into his own hands. He set his own bags down and grabbed for her bag. She kept her grip on it though. "Sayuri..." he mumbled, "Just let go, please. A woman doesn't need to be carrying things."

She stood there for a moment, just staring at him. Their blue eyes met and she studied her reflection inside his glossy orbs before setting her bag down gently. He nodded at her and threw her bag over his shoulder, bent down and picked up his bags and began following the path once again.

'I don't understand him at all.' Sayuri thought sadly. 'We're a couple and...I don't even know the first thing about him.'

She looked up and saw that Raeden was several yards ahead of her and broke into a brisk jog. After a few minutes she finally managed to catch up to him and slowed her pace down, though not by much since he took long strides and always seemed to get ahead of her when she wasn't paying attention. Sayuri hated not having her bag. It made her uncomfortable; making him do all of the work. Though, she was happy to be twenty pounds or so lighter. However, the lack of baggage left her with little to keep her distracted and she instead fidgeted with the belt over her white and red robes. She focused on her belt and played with the strings hanging off the end- twirling them around her fingers before pulling them out and letting the strings fall back down along her robes. She continued keeping herself busy when she bumped into Raeden. She bounced backwards a bit with a small 'oomph' and glanced quickly at him curiously. "I'm so sorry," she apologized quickly; a slight shade of red danced across her face- embarrassed for not paying attention. She looked at him and noticed that he wasn't paying attention to her and was instead looking towards a a small wooded area on the side of the pathway. Her eyes followed his and she felt her blood freeze and her eyes widen.

In the small gathering of trees stood five members of the Syndicate. Their grey armor and red masks stood out against the luscious green and brown of the trees behind them. They each held a set of daggers and were moving closer to them.

"Sayuri.." Raeden whispered, his voice just barely audible. "I want you to run."

She looked at him frightened. "Run where?" she asked; looking around them. She didn't know the area well at all. He was the one who had been there many times before.

"This road goes to Southshore," he whispered; giving a quick look towards the Syndicate members to gauge their distance and how much time he had. "Just run into the woods for a bit and when you're farther ahead, get back on the path and keep going until you see a fork in the road. Take a left and keep going until you see the town. It's easy to see from the road."

"Okay," Sayuri said uneasily. She took a moment to take in what he said and quickly memorize his directions. She had a feeling he wouldn't be able to repeat them for her again. She stopped a moment, "Wait! What about you?" she shrieked at him; her voice teetering between a whisper and a yell.

"Shhh..." he glanced back at the members. They were really close now and only coming closer. "Don't worry about me. I'll distract them and then I'll meet up with you in Southshore, okay?"

"Alright..." she swallowed uneasily.

"Okay..." he watched the nearing group out of the corner of his eye. "In three...two...one!" he whispered quickly; running towards the armed humans.

At the sound of 'one' she turned and took off for the other side of the path. The sudden movement seemed to have been their signal to attack because as soon as she took off she heard several footsteps behind her at once and she knew they had completely disregarded Raeden.

"SAYURI!" Raeden yelled from behind her.

She kept running but turned her head to see what was going on. However, after what she saw, she wish she hadn't. Two of the Syndicate members were right behind her followed by Raeden and the other three were behind him. She sped up to the best of her ability and pushed herself more; her winded hair whipping at her face and her robes dancing around her legs. Her heart was pounding and she felt each beat up inside her throat but continued running when she heard a scream followed by a loud 'thud' on the ground. She turned her head once again and saw that Raeden had fallen and that two of the Syndicates were pulling daggers out from his back."RAEDEN!" she screamed and watched in horror as she saw blood shoot out of now open and unblocked wounds. She felt tears stinging at her eyes and her body shivered with a newly found weakness as sorrow drowned her. The running was getting to her and she had a stitch in her side that was pinching her and only getting worse and worse with each step she took. She finally collapsed onto the ground; both sadness and fatigue finally taking it's toll on her. They wasted no time falling to their knees beside her and bounding her wrists tightly. She didn't feel anything though. Her entire body was numb and her eyelids felt heavy. The Syndicates mentioned 'slave' and 'kill' and that was all she heard before she drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Sayuri began to stir with a long groan; blinking her eyes to get them used to the sun that was bearing down on her. Once her eyes were adjusted she swept the scene with them as she slowly tried to piece everything together to remember what had happened.

'I...Where...Raeden...' she thought. Raeden's name seemed to do the trick and she felt her eyes water as everything that happened earlier came flooding back at once like a dam breaking. And suddenly her heart ached once again. After a moment of swallowing hard and gritting her teeth to stop her tears she tried to focus on scoping out the area so she could figure out how to escape.

Her wrists were bound together behind her and a thick, scratchy, brown rope wound around her upper body from her shoulders to her waist making any arm movement impossible. If that wasn't enough her knees and hooves had also been bound as an extra precaution. She did another once over of where she was but it didn't seem to help much. 'I'm tied up...I'm leaning on a tree and there's trees everywhere...' she thought gloomily. Sayuri turned her head and rested it against the rough bark behind her. She breathed out slowly; her eyes closed and mind trying to hold herself together when she heard leaves rustling. Her body jerked a bit- surprised at the sudden noise and she held her breath as she waited for the visitor to come forth in viewing distance.

'Raeden...?' she thought before shaking her head at her childish hope. She saw what had happened to him. Raeden wouldn't be saving her. Not today. Not ever.

The rustling seemed to get closer and she stretched her neck in an attempt to look behind her and the tree. After a moment she saw two Syndicate members emerge from several large bushes. She swallowed and breathed out slowly; trying to keep her breathing calm. She didn't want to panic and keep herself on edge the entire time. The two Syndicates walked over to her; one a tan colored man with cropped blonde hair and the other a pale woman with blonde hair that was pulled back into a high pony tail. They both wore the typical Syndicate armor- black chest piece, pants, boots and a bright red mask over their faces. She didn't recall seeing these two earlier so she suspected there was a camp close by which only proceeded to frighten her at the thought. The man walked over to her, while the woman hung back towards the bushes; watching from the distance. He knelt down beside her and peered into her eyes. She wanted to look away; to just close her eyes and get this monster out of her sight but she didn't. Looking away was a sign of weakness; a sign that she was uncomfortable, scared, and upset. She might have felt that way inside but she didn't have to let him know so she returned his gaze and held it. She saw his eyes scrunch a little and figured that he was smiling behind his mask.

"Not scared are we?" he chortled.

Sayuri didn't say anything. She only gave a small shake of her head and continued staring at her captor.

"Hmm. You must want to see your friend," he mused. "Would you like that?" he asked.

Her heart gave a small leap and filled with a beam of hope at these words. She nodded at him; trying not to seem so eager at anything he said.

"Yea. I thought you would." he said in a soothing tone. "Darling, bring her friend here, would you?" he called to the blonde woman behind him.

She looked past the man and saw the woman disappear behind the bushes. The man continued staring at her; his gaze piercing her and making her nervous. She focused on her breathing; remembering to keep calm and not overreact to anything.

After several minutes had past she heard the familiar rustle of leaves and the bushes ahead of her shook a little. She leaned forward and waited; her breath caught in her throat. The woman finally emerged and what she saw tore her heart in half. She approached her; stopping several feet away and slammed a wooden pole into the ground. Atop the pole was the head of Raeden. Her eyes filled to the brim with tears and she turned away. She tried closing her eyes but could only see the horrific image that was in front of her right now.

"Awww... look what you did Kal, you've upset her!" the man exclaimed. The woman giggled at this; standing beside the wooden pole and looking down at Sayuri.

"Oh, boy. What's going on, hm?" he questioned. "This really upset you didn't it?"

She felt hot tears pour down her face and refused to look at either of them. Her breathing became rapid but she gave up trying to control it. She couldn't remain calm. Not after this. The reality of the situation hit her hard. This wasn't a game. She was in real trouble.

"You should be crying." he said. He leaned forward; his mouth inches away from her ear, "You killed him."

She shook her head again at these words and felt more tears rolling down her cheeks. Her eyes burnt and stung and her face felt hot.

"You did. Say you did."

"I won't." she said in a shaky voice.

"You will." he said; his tone suddenly getting very serious. "Say you killed him or your fate will not be much different from his own. Do you want that?" he asked her; pulling away from her face and returning to his kneeling position in front of her.

She didn't say anything; only stared past the man. He began to rummage in a side pocket on his chest piece and from the corner of her eye she saw a glimmer of light as he pulled out a dagger. Panic arose in her chest at the sight of this but it didn't register on her face to the disappointment of the Syndicate. He gripped the blade and brought it slowly up to her neck. She gave a small gasp as she felt cold steel on her neck.

"Say it or you die." he whispered.

"I won't." she said back. 


	3. Chapter 3

She felt the cold steel pressing against her neck. It was closer now and she felt warm liquid trickle down in a zigzag pattern along her skin. She shut her eyes tightly and prepared for the worst. Her body tensed and she grabbed at the ground behind her; taking all of her fear and anger out on the blades of grass. Time only seemed to slow down by tenfold leaving her anxious and increasingly more frightened. She felt and heard a small whirl of wind rush past her face and in a matter of the seconds the cold of the steel had left her neck. A small gasp escaped her lips and she opened her eyes. They widened as she saw her captor on the ground; an arrow through the side of his head. She looked up and saw that the blond woman too had an arrow in her chest and was on the ground; her blood was already beginning to soak through her chest piece darkening the already black clothing. Sayuri heard movement in the bushes to the side and turned slowly; curious to see who the archer was. They had, after all, saved her life. To her surprise she saw two trolls.

They both were tall and walked a little hunched over. One was a dark shade of blue with rather large hair that seemed to shoot out from several angles, leaving a very windswept appearance. His tusks were small and poked out several inches on either side of his mouth. He wore silver plate armor that bore both the Horde crest and the Troll one. The other troll was a pale green and had a tall green mohawk that added at least an extra foot to his height. His tusks were about the same, though one seemed to have been painted. He wore much lighter brown armor- leather she assumed. They walked into the clearing and the plate armored troll reached towards his back and unsheathed a large, glowing broad sword and at once began to cut through the Syndicate woman's' head. He did it with ease and Sayuri watched as the troll bent down and tossed the head to the other troll who caught it and put it into a bag he had over his shoulder. The troll then stopped a moment; noticing the wooden pole that held Raeden's head. She watched as his eyes wandered from it to her and she just stared back; her heart racing. He walked in her direction and slammed his sword into her captor's neck before ripping it from his body and tossing it to the other troll as he had before.

He sheathed his sword and bent down in front of her. He lifted his hand and she watched the three fingers go towards her face. She closed her eyes and felt her heart speed up even more; leaving her body shaking a little. He stroked her face a few times before dragging his hand down to her neck and observing where the dagger had been.

"Goin' ta come wit us, okie?" he said; still eying her wound.

Her eyes widened and she looked from him to the other troll. She didn't know what to say. They were Horde after all, but they had saved her. Though, at this point she wasn't sure if it was out of kindness or just so they could capture and slaughter her elsewhere. Whether it went against her better judgement or not, she did feel inclined to trust him. She sensed something good within him. She gave a small nod.

He grabbed the dagger lying on the ground and was about to cut through the ropes binding her when the other troll stepped forward.

"No," he said shaking his head.

The other troll looked up at him perplexed. "What, mon?"

"What ya be doin' wit da blue girl?" he asked; furrowing his brows and adjusting the bag on his shoulder.

"Goin' ta take her back wit us," he answered; still holding the knife next to the ropes.

"An' den what? Goin' ta keep 'er as a slave or someting?"

"Don' know yet. Don' wanta leave her here..." he said as he stared at me.

"Okie, mon. Do what ya gon' do. Goin' ta get alotta shit for dis t'ough, ya mark ma words." he shook his head.

"I'll deal wit it." he replied; grinning.

He faced Sayuri again and began cutting through the ropes around her chest. Once he finished, she breathed a long sigh of relief; inflating her lungs fully now that her chest was able to expand without the binding stopping her. He then got to work on her wrists, legs and then feet. After the last of the rope had been cut, he set the dagger on the ground. Sayuri began to stand up when he shook his head and scooped her up into his arms. He lifted her with ease; his strong arms under her back and behind her knees. She felt herself blushing as he carried her away from the clearing. The other troll seemed to notice the red dancing across her face and he broke into laughter and gave her a quick wink. This only caused her to blush even more.

The troll carried her past the bushes and she saw two raptors come into view. Her mouth dropped open a bit as she stared at the creatures. One was black and red; bearing armor on his head, sides, upper legs, tail and several feathers dangled from it's elbows. The other was orange and black and it too was armored. The troll made a clicking noise and the black and red raptor knelt down. He helped Sayuri sit upon the creature before heaving himself on it's back as well, in front of her.

"Hold on, okie?" he said; eying her before grabbing onto his reins.

Sayuri's cheeks burned as she placed her arms around the trolls stomach. She felt it rise and fall with each breath he took and she found it very soothing. The troll worked the reins and the raptor turned towards the other troll and they both watched as he adjusted the bag on his own raptor before giving a quick nod. They then took off away from the area.


End file.
